Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Little Rascals Volume 6 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2022

ClassicFlix is winding up its really fun exploration of The Little Rascals shorts that were produced by the Hal Roach Studios, rescuing them from, if not obscurity, then at least less than optimal curation. The first thing that collectors of this series (see the links below for previous volumes) will notice is that this disc includes considerably more films on it than all of the previous releases, and that's because, as the brief but interesting notes on the back cover of this release get into, Roach could no longer profitably sustain two reelers, and the result was the final aggregation of Roach produced efforts, spanning the years of 1936 to 1938.

For reviews of the previous five volumes in this series (all of which contain complete listings and brief descriptions of the short included), please click on the following links:

The Little Rascals Volume 1 Blu-ray review

The Little Rascals Volume 2 Blu-ray review

The Little Rascals Volume 3 Blu-ray review

The Little Rascals Volume 4 Blu-ray review

The Little Rascals Volume 5 Blu-ray review

Details about the 23 shorts in this collection are below, which include some information from ClassicFlix as well as some thoughts of my own.

Bored of Education (Released August 29, 1936) holds the honor of being the first Our Gang short in a couple of categories, including being the beginning of the one reel phase for the group, the first of over twenty shorts directed by Gordon Douglas, and the first Our Gang feature to win the Academy Award for Best One Reel Short Subject. This is yet another feature built around plans to play hooky, this time on the part of Spanky and Alfalfa.

Two Too Young (Released October 10, 1936) adds Buckwheat and Porky to Spanky and Alfalfa and kind of weirdly (given the film's release in October), deals with fireworks probably more associated with mid summer.

Pay as You Exit (Released November 14, 1936) is another first of a kind, in that this is the first Our Gang short where Porky offers his now legendary "O-tay" (ClassicFlix makes a point of mentioning that it's actually not Buckwheat who delivered this immortal comment). The actual story follows the gang attempting their version of a little play called Romeo and Juliet or something like that.

Spooky Hooky (Released December 18, 1936) follows in the somewhat temporally displaced tradition of Two Too Young in that it features a stormy environment probably more Halloween like than pre-Christmas. The gang attempts to divert disaster involving their teacher, but things get comically scary when they have to break into the school at night.

Reunion in Rhythm (Released January 9, 1937) offers some "alumni" performances, including favorite Matthew "Stymie" Beard in another repeated standby Our Gang plot trope, the kids putting on a show.

Glove Taps (Released March 6, 1937) is unsurprisingly about boxing, with Alfalfa ostensibly in a bout with Butch (Tommy Bond). This short starts to play with casting a bit, including Darwood Kaye's debut in a bit role before he became Waldo.

Hearts are Thumps (Released April 3, 1937) once again comes a bit too late in terms of its release date, since it focuses on Valentine's Day, and which kind of comically reverses Lysistrata, at least with regard to which gender forsakes the other, and obviously with no sexual subtext. Alfalfa has to reconsider this decision when Darla shows up.

Rushin' Ballet (Released April 24, 1937) offers Spanky and Alfalfa as precursors to Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot, with the menacing Butch and his acolyte Woim (Sidney Kibrick) the veritable gangsters in pursuit. It's kind of interesting if admittedly inconsequential that this was released so soon after Hearts are Thumps, and which was followed in quick succession by the next short.

Three Smart Boys (Released May 13, 1937) is yet another attempt by the gang to play hooky, this time by faking being ill. This marked the last appearance by Rosina Lawrence as the group's put upon teacher.

Roamin' Holiday (Released June 12, 1937) finds the gang attempting to run away from home, only to discover the grass isn't necessarily greener in the big outside world.

Night 'n' Gales (Released July 24, 1937) features another "dark and stormy" night a la Spooky Hooky, but this time the gang is holed up at Darla's house, much to the dismay of Mr. Hood.

Fishy Tales (Released August 28, 1937) has Butch once again menacing Alfalfa, who is the very model of a modern milquetoast. Spanky decides he can help.

Framing Youth (Released September 25, 1937) continues with the by now familiar dysfunctional relationship between Butch and Alfalfa, with Spanky acting as a kind of intermediary. Another quasi-talent show provides the context.

The Pigskin Palooka (Released October 23, 1937) is interesting in that it plops Alfalfa down in a military school, which is somewhat similar to a feature film that Alfalfa is in that I've mentioned in previous Little Rascals reviews, since it was an early feature of Rascals primary initial director, Robert McGowan, 1936's Too Many Parents. Alfalfa has to live up to his bragging about his football skills here. Dickie Jones is featured.

Mail and Female (Released November 13, 1937) is a call back to Hearts are Thumps and pretty much revisits the plot dynamics of that one, with Alfalfa once again having to decide whether hating girls includes Darla.

Our Gang Follies of 1938 (Released December 18, 1937) is the one two reeler in this set, and is another vaudeville-esque assortment of performances by the kids.

Canned Fishing (Released February 12, 1938) is another rejiggering of elements seen in previous shorts in this collection, with hooky being the object and playing sick the way to get there.

Bear Facts (Released March 5, 1938) brings the circus to town, and the kids want in on the action.

Three Men in a Tub (Released March 26, 1938) brings a bit of class consciousness to bear when Darla starts going out with Richie Rich type Waldo.

Came the Brawn (Released April 16, 1938) brings a putative (and literal) fight for Darla's affections to the fore, though Alfalfa's attempt to rig the fight backfires.

Feed 'Em and Weep (Released May 7, 1938) focuses on a once again dismayed Mr. Hood having to contend with his daughter Darla's gang of friends.

The Awful Tooth (Released May 28, 1938) have the kids plotting to use the tooth fairy as a funding source for their baseball equipment.

Hide and Shriek (Released June 18, 1938) is another combo platter of comedy and (pretend) horror as Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Porky set out to investigate some spooky goings on.

The Little Rascals Volume 6 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 6 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of ClassicFlix with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.32:1. This disc doesn't feature the same sort of restoration comparison that some of ClassicFlix's previous volumes have (there is one available here on YouTube), but like the differences seen in some of the heavily damaged moments in some of the "before" footage when shown side by side with the "after" effects on those prior discs, ClassicFlix is once again to be commended for delivering a largely great looking set of transfers. As I've mentioned in some of the reviews of previous volumes, there are certainly variances and fluctuations to be seen in virtually all of the shorts in terms of clarity, detail levels, contrast and grain structure, but there really aren't any huge issues at all in terms of major damage. Some shorts including but not necessarily limited to Pay as Your Exit can look just slightly darker than some of the others, and there are some passing moments in several shorts where detail levels can ebb briefly. All of the shorts have a nicely organic quality, though again those who pay attention to such things will notice some variations in grain thickness. I noticed no compression anomalies, one way or the other.

Note: One slightly odd authoring choice showed up when I was perusing the disc for screenshots. Some of the shorts have chapter stops in them for no discernable reason, while the bulk of them are only one chapter. Weirdly, the only two reeler on the disc does not have a chapter stop in it.

The Little Rascals Volume 6 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 6 features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that is very much in keeping with the sound of the previous volumes in this series. Things are unavoidably thin sounding at times based on the recording technologies of the day, something that may be most apparent with regard to the fanfare theme and occasional sound effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, though there is some minor background noise at times. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Little Rascals Volume 6 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no on disc supplements this time. The keepcase contains an insert with plot summaries of the films which also include some trivia tidbits.

The Little Rascals Volume 6 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As might be suggested by even the short descriptions of the features I've included above, it seems like the Our Gang team was running out of ideas and just resorted to recycling things over and over. There's therefore arguably a bit less of the freshness that suffused the earlier shorts, but this is still a largely winning set of stories with some adorably unruly children. Technical merits are generally solid (especially video), and The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 6 comes Recommended.